


Glass Cases

by kuonji



Series: Never Too Late [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series, DCU, DCU (Animated)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen, Hopeful Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 10:36:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4218489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuonji/pseuds/kuonji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>When he looked at this suit, he saw a boy who still obeyed (looked up to (cared about (loved))) him.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glass Cases

Dick had wanted red and gold for his costume, which, given his history, should have been completely expected. Bruce, with Alfred's help, had eventually talked the gold down to a fancy 'R' insignia and straps down the chest, a slightly more polished belt, and a yellow lining on the cape. "You're going to look like a target," he'd admonished the boy, as he'd replaced as much of the bright color with concealing black as he thought the boy would take.

"Isn't that my job?" Dick had replied, huffing in childish aggravation, hands on his waist. Even at nine, he'd had the poise and muscular proportions of a pro, which made the conversation only that much more frustrating.

"What are you talking about?" Bruce had replied, dumbfounded.

"You know. I'm supposed to distract people." In the blink of an eye, he'd cartwheeled across the room, bounced a somersault off the far wall, and handspringed back, landing neatly in what Bruce suspected were his exact footprints in starting position. "They'll never know what hit 'em." He mimed a punch, and Bruce noted absently that he had much better form than he'd once had.

"We're not street brawlers," he'd said with excessive patience. "Batman is part of the night. He appears from the shadows to take down the guilty. That's the whole point."

"Right, but that's _Batman's_ deal. I'm Robin," had been the simple retort.

"Would you rather just dress up like a clown?" he'd almost asked. He'd held back not because he was afraid of hurting Dick's feelings, but because he didn't want to _encourage_ him. In Dick's world, the clown was the center of attention and the center of power. He was the one who manipulated the audience and even the ringmaster himself when it suited him.

Case in point.

Bruce often wondered why he had continued the argument at all. He'd considered (several times) making the my-way-or-else speech, but he'd concluded that there was no way that would result in a beneficial situation. Oh, Dick would have capitulated, but he would have been sulky and grudging. Not the start of a good partnership.

And if Bruce allowed himself to dwell on it... he didn't like the thought of quashing the boy's sunshiny disposition and boundless energy. Even though there wasn't any reason for Batman to be partnered with a happy little boy, Bruce couldn't help but like the idea. Anyway, Dick was right. It would distract the heck out of anybody. They _wouldn't_ know what hit them.

He knelt down in front of Dick and took his shoulders. "Look, I know this is very exciting for you. But you have to remember, I've been doing this for years. You're just starting. You have to trust me to take care of you, all right?"

Dick had cocked his head to the side, reminding Bruce of the bird for which he was named, and seemed to consider this seriously.

"Okay," he'd agreed. "When I get better, though," he'd predicted boldly, " _I'll_ take care of _you_."

"Sure. That'd be fine," Bruce had said indulgently, relieved to have settled it.

***

He'd expected Dick to forget all about it once he actually got out there and got used to the job.

The boy was stubborn if nothing else, though.

Already mature for his age, Dick got better about following orders, taking initiative, and learning to tell when to do either. He picked up skills with a determination and a natural ease that often astounded Bruce, and he put those skills to use in a hundred creative ways. His moniker and his cheeky crime-fighting style soon became a household word in Gotham City.

In many ways, Robin was the perfect partner, everything that Batman never knew was essential to him until they started working together. Oh, he still made mistakes, of course. He trusted too easily, got overconfident, let his emotions rule him too often, but even so, he was a force to be reckoned with. As the boy had predicted, he managed to save Batman from serious injury or even possible death on many occasions.

So Bruce found he didn't have a leg to stand on when Dick insisted on 'updating' his outfit.

The longer cape was a nice touch, and the green actually worked remarkably well. The end result of patchwork color faded into the uneven shadows of their rooftop patrols, turning Robin into a ghost in darkness that flashed bright upon entering the light. Distracting, indeed.

Dick had been smug. Bruce had let him.

***

After Dick... left, Bruce kept the spare Robin costumes. He could have found a secure way of destroying them, but there was always that bit of hope that Dick might... Which was ridiculous, of course.

He'd gotten in touch with the supplier for display cases for the Gotham Museum, whom he had donated money to over the years, and he'd hung up Dick's costume in the Batcave. It was hard to look at the colorful suit without seeing it in a heap on the ground, Dick's broad back turned on him as he walked away. It would be harder still to let it go entirely, though. The suit stayed.

Eventually, without asking, Alfred replaced it with the older red and black costume.

Bruce would look at it sometimes, put his hand on the spotlight-warmed glass and study the bright (distracting) gold straps. Then he would sigh and wish Dick well -- and he'd feel a tiny bit less betrayed (abandoned (alone)).

When he looked at this suit, he saw a boy who still obeyed (looked up to (cared about (loved))) him.

***

The first time he saw Tim Drake in the black, red, and gold, surprisingly, he'd felt no confusion at all. He'd only felt exasperation and a sense of dread that had been borne out a few seconds later when Tim was knocked flat on his back by Two-Face's henchman.

The fact that Tim actually managed to hold his own for a while was impressive, however. And there was no doubting his enthusiasm. He made the suit come alive again in a way that Gotham hadn't seen in a decade or more. Maybe that had biased Batman in his decision.

Whatever the case, Bruce found himself training the boy, and soon after, Robin flew the skies again.

***

Bruce stopped in front of the glass case, studying the red, green, gold, and black costume inside.

"'No one can be a Boy Wonder forever', huh?" he mused out loud. It was, of course, true. When he looked at this case now, he didn't see a boy who spurned him, but rather a man who stood tall and confident, with a bit of a challenge still in his eye. A man of his own making.

He pulled up his cowl and checked his grapple gun.

"Okay, okay, I'm done," Tim announced, landing next to him from a leap off of who knows where. Finished with his warm-up, he was, as ever, eager to get out on patrol.

Looking down at the excited boy, Batman allowed himself a small smile. "All right, Robin. Let's go."

  
END.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this story, you might try these:  
> [An Oversight Of Underthings](http://archiveofourown.org/works/455248) (Nightwing), by kuonji  
> [Light, Followed By Darkness](http://bradygirl-12.livejournal.com/65414.html) (Batman), by BradyGirl_12  
> [Red, Green and Yellow](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4193629/1/Red_Green_and_Yellow) (Batman), by Esther-Channah  
> [It Is What It Is](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYXy1N19UJQIt) (Batman The Animated Series vid), by FlameyLovesFrank


End file.
